Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume2 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 7===

"Oh&mdash;She seems to have skipped school! ...Reason? N-No one would know, right? Because she doesn't seem to have any friends... Anyway, isn't it quite weird for someone who had refused to come to school all this time to show up suddenly? Besides, all she did was sit there staring into empty space without even taking her textbooks out. There must be something going on with her, right? She also maintains her distance from everyone else&mdash;"

During the morning break, they had grabbed a student from Shiraho's class and that was what he said.

Haruaki, Kirika and Fear walked along the corridors side by side. Konoha, on the other hand, stayed home with sick leave. I can already walk normally, don't worry&mdash;She originally wanted to come to school, but just to be safe, Haruaki made her call in sick and rest at home.

"...Somehow I have a bad feeling about this."

Kirika murmured softly. Haruaki nodded in agreement. After all, school was where Sovereignty was most likely to be found. Also, Shiraho had said, now that her father was gone, she had to pull herself together from now on. It was hard to imagine why she would be absent without notice.

"It's possible she's simply sick with a flu and unable to contact the school."

"But we can't rule out the possibility of something unusual&mdash;We just need to check, right? Anyway, let's see if we can give her a call or something."

Fear's suggestion was uncharacteristically modern for her.

Naturally, no one in her class knew how to contact her. Hence they tried the phone book at the public telephone in front of the school office. But it did not even contain a single instance of the rare family name, Sakuramairi. In that case, they had no choice but to attempt calling every antique shop in the neighboring town. In the end, that ended fruitlessly as well.

"Damn it, I should have asked for her phone number last time. At least we know the name of the shop, so we can visit her after school&mdash;Oh right, let's ask the superintendent!"

"Didn't that guy go abroad?"

"He's got a cellphone. Even though I don't have the number, I'm sure we can just ask Zenon-san."

Hence, during the break after the next period, they all went to the superintendent's office. But since Kirika's true identity was not known to the superintendent, she stayed outside the room on standby. The instant he knocked, Haruaki wondered if Zenon might be patrolling the school but luckily she happened to be inside.

With her usual cool demeanor, she replied:

"&mdash;Most regrettably, it seems like he's not in reception range. I am most sorry I cannot be of help. Speaking of help, I currently have no choice but to handle all this piled up paperwork, so please understand this objective truth, for I am not slacking off from helping out the insufficient security personnel. Of course, once all this paperwork is handled, I will join in to help out with security. After all, there has been an increase of unnecessary work due to the unusual occurrences. If they're not handled properly, indeed normal operations will be affected&mdash;"

Translation&mdash;The call did not go through. I am very busy, is there any other business?

"...Sorry for disturbing you."

Her own desk should be in the adjoining room but the superintendent's desk was currently piled high with documents. Clearly she was quite busy&mdash;disturbing her would be bad. Just as he was walking out of the room with Fear, Haruaki suddenly noticed the strange straw hat hanging on the clothing stand beside the door.

"Oh, that's strange... It doesn't match this room at all! Who could have left it there?"

"I think it belongs to Zenon."

"You really shouldn't make unfounded statements of that sort! How should I put it, that totally doesn't match..."

"I wasn't making an unfounded statement, okay?"

Saying that, they left the superintendent's office. Zenon bowed politely to see them off&mdash;But somehow, Haruaki felt like her shoulder was twitching during the process, was it his imagination?

"So, what next? Are we out of options?"

"Uh... No, not yet. Isn't there some kind of class contact network thing? If we say it's for visiting a sick student, the homeroom teacher should tell us, right?"

Haruaki was just about to congratulate himself on a good idea and Kirika, who had been waiting outside, seemed to agree at first, but&mdash;

"Hmm... Wait a minute, I remember her being in the Seventh Class... That's a bit problematic..."

Almost instantly, she began to murmur to herself.

"Class Rep, is there a problem?"

"Not exactly a problem, but&mdash;I would advise against asking that class' homeroom teacher to allow us to check the contact network. First of all, we have a student who had never showed up to school previously. Then suddenly some people from another class show up, especially people who aren't particularly close to her, asking to visit her. That's totally unnatural. If possible, I think a more discreet method would be better."

"That sounds reasonable, but even if you insist on a more discreet method..."

"'If possible' was what I said. If there's no other way, then we are left with no choice... What do you say?"

For some reason, Kirika lowered her gaze as if feeling guilty. At this time, Fear tilted her head in surprise and spoke up:

"I don't quite get it, but all we need is the address and telephone number, right? If that's the case, what about that thing I filled in the day before yesterday? Wasn't it said that everyone had to fill one in?"

"What thing?"

"The thing the superintendent asked me to fill when he took my photo. Something about a medical history for the infirmary. The address and telephone number should be on it, right?"

"Oh yeah, nice idea! Well done, Fear!"

"Hmph, praise me more!"

With her nose in the air, Fear's chest swelled with pride. As always, she really was a girl with the myriad expressions.

"Indeed, Fear-kun's method can be carried out discreetly. Perfect... Anyway, break time is almost over, let's do it during lunch!"

"Why would it be discreet?"

"Oh, the school physician&mdash;Ganon-san is the elder sister of Zenon-san. She's someone on the superintendent's side, so we can ask her to keep things secret through Zenon-san. Let's ask her now while we're here!"

Thus they entered the superintendent's office again. The instant the door was opened&mdash;

"...Doesn't match..."

Head bowed, Zenon was staring blankly at the straw hat in her hand. Expressionless as always, but somehow her face seemed slightly lonesome. And the instant she noticed Haruaki and Fear&mdash;Whoosh! She swiftly destroyed the evidence by stuffing the straw hat into the trash can over on the side. Her speed was so fast it seemed like afterimages would be left behind.

Did we witness something we were not supposed to see? Haruaki and Fear exchanged glances. With absolute calm&mdash;or perhaps feigned composure, Zenon took out a very plain beret and put it on her head before their eyes. Then she narrowed her eyes and stared at Haruaki.

"The paperwork has been handled. I was just about to go out on patrol... Do you need something?"

Somehow, she seemed subtly angry.



Next came the lunch break. There were no student fainting incidents today yet. Fear sat restlessly in her seat, wanting to go out and patrol, but there was something to be done first. After rapidly finishing their lunch, Haruaki and his group went to the infirmary. The one who answered the door was&mdash;

"Coming~ ...Please come in~"

A lethargic voice. Leaving Kirika outside once again, Haruaki and Fear entered the room to find waiting for them a person whose lethargic posture matched her voice perfectly. With sleepy eyes, she was playing a jigsaw puzzle. Chewing on a Pocky biscuit stick, she skillfully suppressed a yawn. Dressed in a shabby white coat, glasses perched on the top of her head&mdash;this was the usual appearance of the school physician, Houjyou Ganon.

"How should I say this... Totally lacking in drive. Hey, Haruaki, is she really the school physician? Not some student wearing a white coat and skipping class?"

"Very regrettably, she is undoubtedly the school physician. I have never seen her in a motivated state. Whether it's pay day or any other occurrence, she's always like this. Conversely, isn't that actually quite amazing?"

Haruaki secretly whispered to Fear. But Ganon seemd to have overheard.

"No way~ This is actually a high level strategy! The infirmary is a place of healing, a place where relaxation and a sense of reassurance are paramount... I am simply embodying the ideal! In other words, I don't do this by choice&mdash;Oh my, feigning laziness is so tiring. Is there a better way?"

Unable to understand what she was talking about, Haruaki watched as Ganon lazily swiveled her chair to face him.

"Yes~ Yachi and Cubrick from Second Class, right? I heard from Zenon already. The health survey forms are on the shelves over there, arranged by class in alphabetical order.<ref>'''Alphabetical order''': actually the 五十音(gojūon), literally "Fifty Sounds," the ordering of Japanese kana (hiragana/katakana). Named for the 5x10 grid used to display the characters. Technically, there are 46 syllables in modern Japanese because there are 5 gaps in the grid and 1 extra character.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goj%C5%ABon]</ref> Please put it back properly once you're done, okay~"

That was all she said before boredly going back to her jigsaw puzzle. How befitting of sisters, they were so similar in the manner they acted as they wished&mdash;Fear stared in amazement as she murmured to herself.

"Whatever. Haruaki, let's hurry and get this over with!"

"Ah yeah."

Haruaki and Fear began to search the shelves indicated by Ganon. Very quickly, they found their target&mdash;

In that very instant.

"Wha&mdash;"

The whole world was turned upside down.



"Huh? Is there somethng really interesting? Why do you keep staring... By the way, I'm not that free, you know? Please leave as soon as you're done~"

Free enough to be playing a puzzle, Ganon interrupted. Haruaki and Fear remained rooted to the spot. Unable to move.

They did manage to find what they were looking for. All the essential information was found.

Fear stared silently at the piece of paper in Haruaki's hand.

Sakuramairi Shiraho.

Her address.

Her telephone number.

All were written there.

Since it was handed in together with the enrollment application, therefore even though she had refused to attend school, her personal information was written there without error&mdash;Indeed.

Essential information.

Even the nonessential&mdash;what they never regarded as essential was also there.

"What is... Going on?"

No one could answer Haruaki's question.

Not Fear. Nor Ganon as she played her puzzle indifferently.

Next to the name field where Sakuramairi Shiraho was written, the attached photo showed&mdash;

Beautiful long hair as if artificially crafted. Exquisite facial features like a doll's. Gazing at the camera without smiling at all. The face of the girl Haruaki and the rest had been calling Sovereignty&mdash;No one could give an answer.
[[image:C3 02-187.jpg|thumb]]

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==Translator's Notes and References==
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